In Conversation: Simon Aron on the Cask Trade Warehouse's First Year

As the Cask Trade Warehouse celebrates its first birthday, it's time to reflect on the past year.

We sat down with our founder Simon Aron to discuss his personal highs and lows of setting up a cask warehouse.

Why did you decide to set up the Cask Trade Warehouse?

"Natural progression. It's like anything, you know. You mature; you grow. We grew to a stage where we had thousands of casks, and we knew that we could consolidate them into one warehouse. Also, having your own warehouse means tracking is easier.

We reached that critical point. Economies of scale, you could call it. We had enough casks to have our own warehouse."

How does having our own warehouse benefit our clients?

"So, people wanted to go and visit their casks for whatever reason, to put their name on it with a piece of chalk, to sample it, to open it, to actually verify that it really existed. So, people wanted to see their casks and enjoy their casks for many reasons. When you get your own warehouse, you can do that. People really enjoy the experience."

What are you proudest of in terms of the warehouse?

"I was really happy that the warehouse that we took was in the heart of Speyside. Somewhere I've been maybe 50, 60 times over the years as a whisky enthusiast. We're surrounded by loads of warehouses and distilleries, and it is really whisky country and it's enjoyable. So, I'm very proud to have a warehouse there.

Very proud to have a good team. Very proud to be moving client's casks so they are all under one roof. It takes time to transfer thousands of casks into one warehouse. That was nice.

We're really proud that we set up a tasting room where people could go and sit in a really beautiful room and enjoy the whisky that's sitting outside in a, perhaps, you know, cold warehouse, depending on the time of year. So, we created a beautiful tasting room there to make it much more of an experience for all our clients."

Speaking of Speyside, what is your favourite thing to do there besides visiting the warehouse?

"Okay, there are a couple of nice hotels that I really enjoy in Speyside. One is called the Craigellachie Hotel. The other one is the Dowans Hotel.

I like going to the Highlander Inn to visit my friend Tatsuya. He has a wonderul whisky collection. Same with the beautiful bar at the Craigellachie Hotel.

I'm not a golfer, although people love golfing. I've done clay pigeon shooting. I've done fishing. But mostly, actually, just walking around various small villages or down by the Spey River. It's one of the most beautiful places in the world. I'm a big advocate of that part of Scotland as well as the whole of Scotland. But that part is really very pretty."

Can you think back to a favourite moment regarding the warehouse?

"So, when we took possession of the warehouse, we thought it was going to be fairly easy. Warehousing for whisky should be easy. Theoretically, most people would think, yeah, simple. Actually, it's not so simple.

Specific lighting needs to be done. The floor needs to be loaded. The walls need to be separated. A lot of health and safety, a lot of licensing that needs to be done.

So, the fourth visit to the warehouse was a good day because we cut the ribbon and everything was ready, and we were ready to take casks in. Before that, all the visits were full of tasks, and we weren't ready and that was quite tough."

Can you think of any specific challenges or difficulties faced when setting up the warehouse?

"One of the most difficult things that we have encountered since we've taken the warehouse and started to transfer casks in, is layout. What do we rack? What do we palletise? What do we keep on the floor? Which section? How high? It's not particularly easy. Although people have that skill set within my staff, it's not easy for them as well.

Most warehouses, including our warehouse, are not purpose built for whisky maturation. Our warehouse had a cold store in it. It had biscuits, foodstuffs in it. So, of course, all that had to be cleared out. And you know, planning. Planning and layout can be quite painful."

Final thing. What excites you most about the warehouse moving forward?

"The most exciting thing has got to be the customer interaction. We want to take as many clients there as possible. We want to put them into our beautiful tasting room. We want them to see their cask, open their cask, take a sample directly from the cask and enjoy it. Even if it might be 65% proof. We'll add some water!

It's a nice stop off for anyone visiting Scotland. Because we're in Speyside, we're surrounded by 50 distilleries and people will make a trip from all over the world.

They'll go and visit a distillery; they'll go and visit a nice hotel. They might do some golfing. If we can be part of their itinerary and they can come to the warehouse and experience viewing and tasting their own casks, that's the job done. That's what I want to do. I want to be on that tour for most of our customers."

2026 promises to be another big year for the Cask Trade Warehouse. We'll see more casks being moved in, client tours and exclusive tastings in our newly refurbished tasting room.

Register today to keep up to date with Cask Trade Warehouse developments and exciting opportunities to visit us in Speyside.